The three women who were freed after a decade-long ordeal as captives in a Cleveland home received the Ohio Governor John Kasich’s annual courage awards last night during his “State of the State” speech. During the ceremony, the crowd gave Amanda Berry, Gina de Jesus and Michelle Knight a two-minute standing ovation. Gov. Kasich praised their “story of three women who found an inner strength and a courage that brought them through and sustained them…No one rescued them, they rescued themselves—first by staying strong and by sticking together, and then by literally breaking out into freedom.” It was their first public appearance together since their escape. [ABC News, NBC News]

Emails reveal that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker reveal that he reportedly had a doctor fired from a Milwaukee medical center because she had modeled bikinis in the past. [Slate]

Queers For Economic Justice, a New York-based group that supports poor and homeless queer folks, is shutting down due to lack of funding. [Autostraddle]

Young women are more pessimistic than ever about the future and a whole lot of their “leaning out” seems to come from the endless stereotypes about unfulfilled ladies in the workforce. [Chicago Tribune]

Why are there so few female directors? Some thoughts on the ever-present gender inequality in Hollywood. [Forbes]

Piper Kerman, the woman whose real-life experience inspired “Orange Is The New Black,” continued her fight for prison reform by speaking to Congress today about the indignities of solitary confinement. [National Journal]

Honda Motor has appointed a woman to its board for the first time-ever. [New York Times]

Some stats on the gender gap in the publishing world. Hint: it’s giant. [Feministing]

Two gang rapes have been reported at UC Santa Barbara in California in the past two months, as well as sexual assaults reported at Yale University in Connecticut this weekend. [Los Angeles Times, New York Times]

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